In the post-Jobs era, Samsung has continually pushed two main
ideas: that it has surpassed Apple as mobile technology's
foremost innovator, and that the superior functionality of its
products will be obvious to Apple customers the moment they
decide to give Samsung a try. So far, these ideas have yet to take hold,
with Apple recently
widening its U.S. smartphone market share to 42%compared with Samsung's 26%.

Samsung's vision was
articulated most clearly Sunday night duringa new ad from the
agency 72andSunnytitled
"You Need To See This." In it, Samsung product owners couldn't
help showing their friends the video quality on their mobile
phones (whose screens Samsung
has pointed outare larger
than Apple's), the buzzing of their hip, new smartwatches (a
product Apple doesn't make), and the things they drew with
Samsung's stylus feature (you get the point).

The "You Need To See This" tagline also nudges Samsung customers
to engage in the sort of word-of-mouth advertising that is at the
very core of the company's U.S. marketing strategy, one that
hinges on the idea that people are most likely to try Samsung
products if they see them being used by their friends and the
celebrities they admire.

As such, the brand has worked tirelessly to put its products in
the hands of influencers like LeBron James and Jay Z, even going
so far as to create
a "White Glove" program through which a Samsung
representative personally gives an influencer a free phone and
teaches him or her how to use it.

According to
the Wall Street Journal, Samsung paid extra money to have its
products used during the Oscars ceremony in hopes that the shine
of Hollywood's elite would further establish Samsung as the phone
of choice for the glamorous and upwardly mobile.

The purchase wound up producing the enduring image of the 86th
Academy Awards: a "selfie" actor Bradley Cooper took using a
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 of host Ellen DeGeneres and a slew of
Hollywood A-listers. The photo became
the most retweeted image in Twitter history, and spawned
next-day media coverage from a variety of major publications.

It also underscored the hurdles remaining in Samsung's path. For
all of its products' cool features and the exceedingly hip people
who use them, many potential customers remain hesitant to ditch
their iPhones, an easy-to-use product users have grown
comfortable with over the years.

Just a day after showing off the Galaxy Note 3 to the world,
DeGeneres was back to tweeting from her iPhone.